Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Price Target Raised to $32.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) had its target price increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $28.00 to $32.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

MUR has been the topic of several other reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Murphy Oil from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $29.85.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of MUR stock opened at $31.76 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.41 and a beta of 0.78. Murphy Oil has a 12-month low of $18.94 and a 12-month high of $35.19. The business’s 50 day moving average is $31.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.25. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 4.30% and a net margin of 5.16%.The business had revenue of $720.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $648.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Murphy Oil will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. SIR Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in Murphy Oil during the third quarter worth approximately $30,896,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 44.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,068,290 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $69,037,000 after acquiring an additional 950,630 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 60.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,119,622 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $60,218,000 after acquiring an additional 794,510 shares during the period. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Murphy Oil during the 3rd quarter valued at about $21,096,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Murphy Oil by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,056,427 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,423,000 after acquiring an additional 514,127 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Murphy Oil Company Profile

Murphy Oil Corporation is an independent upstream oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s operations encompass conventional onshore and offshore reservoirs, with an emphasis on liquids-rich properties and deepwater assets. Through a combination of proprietary technologies and strategic joint ventures, Murphy Oil seeks to optimize recovery rates and manage its portfolio to balance long-term resource development with operational flexibility.

Murphy Oil’s exploration and production activities are geographically diversified.